An Arizona house committee passed a bill allowing cities, towns and counties to regulate sober living homes.
After 4:00 p.m. House Bill 2107 passed with amendments in future meetings.
It’s the second time for the bill to be heard in the House Committee. Sober living homes house former addicts and help them stay clean by complying with programs like Alcoholics Anonymous.
It’s the second time for House Bill 2107 to go before a committee. It’s sponsored by Representative Noel Campbell of Prescott who says cities and towns need more information about sober living facilities.
We asked Executive Director Myra Garlit of Crossroads Mission why she thought sober living facilities were important in the Desert Southwest.
“We have a lot of addiction here in Yuma County. Methamphetamine, heroin, we have a lot of addiction here,” said Garlit.
She says just her facility alone helps dozens get sober.
“Every month our intakes for our First Step Center, which is are detox unit are probably 40-50 a month(people helped),” said Garlit.
Her center is just one of the many offered in Yuma, all with the end goal of getting former addicts on track to be successful.
“We want success for everybody that comes through our program because our bottom line is to make Yuma County a better place to live. We believe that we do that by ending drug addiction and giving help to the ones that need treatment,” said Garlit.
Several speakers that were there for the vote said they hope the regulations will keep neighborhoods with sober living homes safe.